The Lowly Underappreciated Spot

Spot don’t get no respect. Sure, they’re small. No, they aren’t hard to catch. And it’s true that they won’t top the list of culinary delights for very many of the anglers out there. But spot have one redeeming factor that makes them a prime candidate: virtually everything in the sea enjoys eating them.

CATCH your spot by dropping a top-and-bottom rig baited with Fishbites bloodworm flavor, squid bits, or shrimp bits. Spot aren’t very choosy, but baits with plenty of scent are best. Red Sabiki rigs tipped with a smidge of bait are killers on them, too. Fish dead on bottom, usually in eight to 20 foot depths over shell or live bottom, and you can often fill your livewell in short order.

LIVE-LINE them with no weight, hooked through the back just in front of the dorsal, for predators who hunt in the five to 15 foot depth range. With the hook planted there they’ll usually try to swim down but if there’s any real current, won’t get much deeper than 15 feet with no weight added on. For fish that hunt at the surface, hook the spot through the nose. Rigged like that they’ll rarely swim downwards but instead tend to stick close to the surface.

WEIGHT them down when you want to fish deeper, or if a stiff current or fast drift is keeping them too close to the surface.

SLOW-TROLL them when you want to cover ground. In this scenario they’ll live longest if you nose-hook them and add just enough weight to get them down where you want them running.

CUT them into strips or chunks, when fishing strip baits for flounder or static rigs (such as surf fishing) for bluefish.

And if you do happen to luck into a lunker spot, consider tossing it on ice and giving it a try. Their meat is soft and oily like that of a mackerel or a bluefish, but it soaks up the flavor of whatever you spice it with. Topped with garlic butter and a dash of cayenne, spot can really hit the spot!